Biggest FL LOSER of the Year: MEL MARTINEZ!

The results are in.

Lot's of close calls this year. I'll start at the bottom.

5. Rep. Tom Feeney always makes my list because he is corrupt and a creep, but he did nothing this year (And I really do mean NOTHING--voting against poor kid's health care, voting against changing course in an endless war, etc.) So he's just on the bottom.

4. Rep. Ric Keller, who promised a term-limit of six years which would have ended in January. This means that we would not have had to put up with his pandering and bad judgment this year. The good news--he will be beaten next year. Maybe he can get a job mowing lawns in Iraq.

3. Rep. John Mica, (my own Congressman), who can always be counted on to tow the line for Bush no matter what, justified Bush's support for corrupt militia leaders in Iraq who have tortured and killed to --wait for it--wait for it---Bill Clinton. That's right, Bill Clinton also had scandals, including an "impeachment"; therefore, he is just as bad. Though what really irritated me this year was that he personally told me that Rush Limbaugh was taken out of context, and it was really Harry Reid's fault for making noise about it. I emailed him the full transcript and asked him to tell me exactly how Rush was taken out of context. That was October--still waiting for a response.

2. Fl. State Rep. Bob Allen, our own "Larry Craig", who actually offered a blow job to an undercover officer in a public park men's room. (As is typical, Allen received an almost perfect score from the Christian Coalition of Florida for his family-values opposition to abortion, gays, and pornography.) And as is typical with a GOP politician, why not make a very bad situation a HELL of a lot worse? First, he tried to play the "I'm a legislator" hand, which never works. Then, he decided to add racism to the mix--saying he only offered himself for sex because he was terrified of the big black man. He would be number one, but he really is a minor player, and at least he had the decency to resign when he realized he had dug himself a hole and it was hopeless. (More than I can say for Craig, or the prez for that matter).

1. MEL MARTINEZ. What a bonehead. What a LOSER. He was picked by Bush to head the GOP because of his skin color to win over the coveted Hispanic vote, and perhaps to stop the blood-loss caused by the most incompetent, corrupt administration in history. As point man for the GOP, Martinez felt the need to support EVERYTHING Bush wanted to do. Two problems:

• Not a smart strategic move for a politician to tie yourself to a sinking ship. His formerly high approval ratings are now down with Bush's. Rightfully so.


• It let the people of Florida know that Bush came first, NOT the citizens who put him in office. Not smart.

I knew he had problems when the relatively conservative Orlando Sentinel printed blistering rebukes calling out his lies after he wrote an article repeating Bush's talking points on S-CHIP. But the real problem was when he tried to corral support for Bush's immigration bill. He lost a lot of GOP support on that. And with no support from Dems or Independents--who was left? Mel bolted after just 10 months--the Bush curse sealing his fate for the next election. MEL MARTINEZ, who had a promising career, decided like many before him to sacrifice himself at the altar of BUSH. Bush has ruined a lot of careers, but no one's anchor was more firmly tied to Bush then Martinez. He should be glad that he's not up for re-election this time, but it won't matter. He will be gone.

Mel Martinez, biggest Florida loser of the 2007. Congratulations.